Look At Me
by 9angels1idiot
Summary: Life as Tsukishima Kei's childhood friend wasn't easy. Life as his neighbor in high school isn't easy either. But why Kana puts up with it, she'll have to find out slowly but surely. Because there's no looking back now. TsukishimaxOC
1. My Type

**LOOK AT ME**

 **Chapter 1: My Type**

"Tsukishima-san! I like you!"

I looked to my right, to the boy who was being confessed to. He turned back to the girl who was confessing to him.

"A-a-and I don't care if you have a girlfriend. I just need- need- t-t-to let my feelings out." She stuttered, like a car trying to grab on to some gas, sputtering to find her breath.

But my jaw dropped. Dumbfounded. What did she say about tsukishima having a girlfriend? Is she trying to kill me? I was about to reply when tsukishima placed his arm right in front of me, as if to block me. He gave me one freezing glare. _What did I do wrong now?_ I thought to myself.

"I'm sorry," his reply came calmly. "I don't really know you."

The girl picked herself up quickly from the rejection, "I'm ya-"

"Don't" Tsukishima interrupted. He took one good look at the girl and stood up straight, "I don't need to know. It's fine." He turned around and walked ahead of me.

I bowed to the girl in front of, who looked like she was on the verge of tears and said "sorry." I followed tsukishima's steps.

"Wow. I've been promoted to girlfriend now?" I said sarcastically.

"Shut up, Kana."

I sighed. "But then again, how many girls have you rejected anyway?"

"Who cares." He shrugged, "at least there are girls after me." He looked down at me and added, "It's not like there's anyone you're rejecting lately. Boy or girl." He grimaced disgracefully.

I rolled my eyes. "I don't have time for that."

"What should you be busy doing anyway? It's not like you're even studying with how bad your grades are." He snickered.

And what can I retort to that when he was taking college prep classes. A quick topic change is the only thing that can save me right now. "And can you please tell them I'm not your girlfriend. It's not giving me a chance to have my own boy friend." I crossed my arms.

"Your problem. You solve it."

"You're as useless as usual."

"Useless? I guess, I'm not helping you with school work tonight then." He said a little louder.

 _Shit,_ I thought and then sighed. "Whatever. I don't get why I still deal with you."

"You're probably just really masochistic."

"Ugh" I glared at him, "Can you not even say that? It just sounds so wrong coming from you."

He shrugged. "Hmm. I don't get why you keep up with me."

"Family friends, remember?" I replied.

Or childhood friends, as what my mom would call it. Or neighbours, as what the rest of the neighbourhood would call it. But are we really friends if we hardly talked as children and if he bullied me crazily.

We used to be neighbours but when my father's work transferred him to Tokyo, when I was 8 years old, we all moved along. Nearing the end of middle school, my parents divorced and I joined my mom back here to Miyagi. Back to the same house I called home for 8 years. When I moved, I was hoping I'd never have to see the face of the guy who destroyed my childhood. But there he was - right when I opened the gate of my home, on the first day of high school. There he was. Standing outside his house. My neighbour for 8 years. My tormentor. My enemy. I'd never forget his face. The way he stood. Those glasses. The calm attitude. It was the same Tsukishima Kei.

Except the height.

He was tall. Too tall. Way too tall. My 158 cm couldn't beat that tower that he was.

There were days when we would go to school together. I think that's where the rumors about us began. Cousin. Half sister. Girlfriend. All that nonsense. Non truths. But I'll be honest. All those days I stayed in Tokyo, I never looked back at my life here in Miyagi. It's a great place. It honestly is. But being bullied by Tsukishima wasn't exactly fun. His brother was a different story though. Like a knight in shining armor compared to the dark scary monster that his little brother was. Looking at him now, he'll probably always be just this neighbour of mine.

"What are you looking at?" he glared at me, and then a sly girl slowly formed on his face, "Falling in love with me, too?

"Shut up, Tsukishima." I retorted, using his favourite line. "I'd never fall in love with you."

He let out a breath. "Wah. Thank goodness. I wouldn't have to deal with rejecting you then." He looked up, "And then I wouldn't try those sweets that your mom has been making."

And I honestly do believe that's the only reason he walks me home sometimes. Just so that he could suck up to my mom and eat those sweets she's been making. Sometimes, I bake cupcakes here and then and send it over to their house. I once told Tsukishima, I baked it and he said, "I wouldn't want to eat something you made. Probably tastes like grass." It hurt so bad but then I decided to try baking for him once more. Then I told him my mom made it and you know what? He ate it. He ate all of 3 cupcakes. Without a complaint. And he looked like the happiest kid in the world, until he realized I was staring and then he said, "Don't tell anyone about this."

I didn't tell anyone. But I knew how much of a lying bastard he was. And how mean he was. And how annoying he was. How condescending he was. How arrogant, egotistic, selfish brat he was.

There was no way I was going to fall for this guy. Ever.

Not even when he turned out to be a really good looking guy. And tall. With glasses. And athletic. And smart. He was almost my type.

"Huh? Who's your type?" I heard Tsukishima say, bringing me out of this moment of reminiscence. Making me realize I said the last line out loud.

"Who?" he asked again. It's like he wasn't going to stop.

"I won't stop asking." He said. Now, he can read minds.

"Who?" he stopped walking.

He looked at me in the eyes. I tried to look away. "No one." I whispered.

"Can't hear you. I'm sure you have to give me a name now. Or..." He leaned in lower, "I could tell your mom how you're failing in math, English and history."

Things were getting worse. And so, I made a mistake when I accidentally slipped out a name I didn't think of saying but only said it because he was the first person on my mind.

"Kageyama-kun."

And that's how my life spiralled down into a long depressing route of torture

* * *

A/N: Hey there hello, how long has it been since I've written fanfiction? This story was just supposed to be a one shot about two friends who turn out to be just friends. A slice of life as what tsukki would be like with friends (if he had friends other than yamaguchi. HAHA.)But I read too much shoujo manga and this is what happened. I hope to make this short but when it comes to me... things just get longer and longer... if ever I do end up finishing this. I just needed to release some literary tension that's been pent up inside me out of my system. Please send me reviews of all sorts. I really want also to learn more about how to improve my writing, my character and my way of writing Tsukishima. I tried to get the feel of his character by being sarcasting but I think he came out really sadistic. HAHA

Till the next time,

Lynx.


	2. Facing Fears

**LOOK AT ME**

 **Chapter 2: Facing Fears**

Mornings in Karasuno consists of the sounds of the echoes of the sports club. The thumping of balls thrown around. The steps of players jogging. The yells of athletes. The cheers of their friends. It's pleasing to hear even though I don't play a sport. I'm more of a spectator. An over excited spectator. So when the track and field guys are running towards the entrance of the school at the same time as me, I'm watching them. Closely. Eyes wide open. Breathing steadily. They're all legs. Slight muscles. All sweat. All men. I'm transfixed on this sight of men.

"Nakamura-san!" a loud voice woke me up from my trance. I looked behind me and found Hinata-kun on his bike riding speedily towards school.

I gave a wave and said, "Good Morning, Hinata-kun!"

He stopped his bike and got off, dragging the bike beside him and began walking at my pace. "Why are you so early?"

 _To check out the track and field team's legs and muscles,_ not exactly an answer I wanted to say nor was my other choice, _to run away from Tsukishima so I wouldn't bump into him at home_. Therefore, I answered with the most realistic answer I had, "I forgot to answer my homework last night, so I'm answering them here."

"Eh!" he exclaimed, "What homework?"

"Math worksheet?" I replied, while rummaging through my bag to find the paper our teacher gave us yesterday. It had 15 questions. And I answered none.

"Math worksheet?" He yelled louder. "We had homework for math?" he started panicking and he, too, checked through the things in his bag to find the work sheet I was now holding. Once he found it, crumpled and untouched, he looked at all 15 questions and looked like he was going to die. He started shaking and looked at me with pleading eyes, as if begging to ask me if he could save him.

"Relax, Hinata-kun!" I smiled, "The class still isn't till after lunch, so you'll have time to copy answers."

His panic seized immediately and his eyes widened. "Right!" he looked like he was doing a victory dance. "Thanks for reminding me, Nakamura-san!"

"Ah Kana." A bland voice came from behind us. "Fancy seeing you here."

I didn't want to turn around and see the owner of the voice. No not at all. Especially with my unanswered math homework. In the end, I didn't go to Tsukishima's place to ask him for help for my homework. I couldn't. Not after that lie I told him.

"Morning Nakamura-san!" I heard another cheery voice say from behind him.

I turned around to greet the second voice, but not the first. "Morning Yamaguchi-kun!"

Tsukishima was standing right beside him with Yamaguchi giving off such a positive energy.

"I didn't think you'd be so early so you could flirt with your crush's stupid friend." Tsukishima remarked. "Or then again, you could be putting in your best graces so you could look good in front of him. Not a bad move actually."

I was infuriating. For one thing, its fine if he says that in front of me. Alone. I could handle that. But this? In front of Hinata and Yamaguchi? This is pure torture. Evil, actually.

"Eh? Who's your crush, Nakamura-san?" Hinata asked loudly. And of course, this stupid child would gobble all the things that Tsukishima would say.

Yamaguchi just smiled plainly, not even trying to console me.

"Nothing. Nobody." I answered quickly. And then I did another stupid thing. Just to clear the air. Just so I can finally breathe. And just so I can end this torture. I pointed at Tsukishima, grabbing all the courage I could get. Forgetting everything he's done to me. And not minding the consequences. "Yamaguchi, I'm borrowing this tall middle blocker of yours for a second." Then I grabbed his limp arm and pulled him to the school's garden. Right where no one can see us. Well, I hope no one can see us.

"Whoa. Never thought you could run, Kana." He said without even catching his breath. I couldn't even look up to see his face because I was too tired from the morning jog.

"What's wrong with you, Kei?" I yelled at him but mostly at the ground. I could see his feet stagger and move backwards slowly. I raised my head high and tried to look at him. "You tortured me. Bullied me as a child. You never showed me not one look of kindness. You never, not once, even tried to help me with anything unless I begged you to. Sure, you've helped me with my classes but seriously, it feels like I'm just being punched by you every time. Why don't you just hit me? If you want to hurt me. Hit me! At least I can handle that superficial pain. But all this sarcasm, all this hatred, it hurts a lot more. And I don't know if its just because I'm the weak kid you used to bully around, but I'm not that kid anymore. I'm weak at a lot of things, but I have my strengths to. But you've never tried to find them because you'd always avert your eyes away from the good things I do. Why do you do this, Kei? Why is this so fun for you?"

I was near tears. I could feel it forming on my eyes. Blurring my vision. But I breathed in hard and tried to hold it all in. Tears would not work on this monster. He doesn't care about anyone else. He just cares about himself.

"Eh. It's no fun when you know how to fight back, Kana."

He said after a long silence.

I didn't know what happened next. All I remember was that I heard a loud clap. A loud slap to be exact. My right hand was burning. His left cheek was reddening. I slapped Tsukishima Kei.

"You sadistic bastard!"

I turned around to walk away from him.

"And no, I don't like Kageyama. If you're going to walk around making weird rumors about me and him, don't do it in front of my eyes. I don't want to see your disgusting face in front of me anymore."

Leaving him, I raised my head high and walked towards my classroom. Before I knew it, I finished my math homework, after many erasures and with the help of my classmates who slowly started to arrive. Hinata came to my table to ask for my answers and I tried to help him answer, too.

"So, what's up with you and Tsukishima?" he asked suddenly while trying to answer the math homework.

I shrugged, leaned on my palms and closed my eyes. "I just don't understand why he's like that."

His head perked up. "Me too! I don't understand why he's always so mean and sometimes, it's like he just doesn't try so hard in volleyball, too."

"What do you mean by that? He seems fine. At least, he interacts properly with you guys. He's just always so sarcastic with me. Like, I don't really know how to hold a conversation with him." I sighed and then looked at Hinata, who was staring at me right in the eyes, "But whenever I watch him play volleyball with you guys, I see him trying. Especially that time when you played against Aoba Josei, he was jumping to try to block the ball, right? Shouldn't that be enough."

He looked down at his unfinished homework, "Not enough to make us win. We need to become stronger. I have to become stronger."

"Hmm. And you just don't see Tsukishima trying?"

"Yes!"

I rested my head on the table. "Well, there's nothing I can do about that. Yamaguchi was with him most of the time while I was in Tokyo, so I don't really know what happened to him. But he used to love it so much."

"He did?"

"I think he did. I don't remember, my memory of him as a child, was someone who would always laugh at me whenever I made a mistake. But he seemed like he loved it. Anyway, his past isn't my story to tell anyway." I slumped down a little lower, "I'm just so tired of dealing with him."

Hinata started copying again, "But if you were childhood friends, did you ever like him?"

I raised my head so suddenly, I thought I could have a headache just from that motion. "What?! As If that's possible!" I yelled. And then softly said, "But sometimes, I just wish he was someone else. I wish he was someone like you. Someone who would try to understand their friend. Someone who would ask if I had problems. If he was," I shrugged again, "I probably would like him." I then shook my head slowly and looked at Hinata who was now blushing, "But he isn't like you. Tsukishima is Tsukishima and I don't think I'll like him the way he is now."

"O-o-kay!" he stuttered a response.

I patted his head softly, "Don't worry, Hinata. Don't dwell on my problems. I'll find a way to make myself feel better."

As school breezed through quickly, everyone quickly left to their respective clubs as class ended. I was walking towards the cooking club when I saw a familiar tall lanky body leaning by the door of our clubroom. He looked up at me and then straightened his body as I moved closer. I had decided, whatever he was going to say to me, I wouldn't listen to him.

"Kana." He said softly.

I stood right in front of the door of my clubroom, hand on the door handle.

"Kana. Listen to me." He said once more.

I was about to slide the door open, when I could feel him pushing the door back close.

"Listen to me first."

And the same way I pulled him this morning, he was doing the same thing to me now. He pulled my wrisnt and brought me into an empty corridor and let go hastily.

"You didn't give me time to respond this morning!" he yelled so closely to my ears. I closed my eyes and scrunched my body up in response.

I heard his feet step back slightly. He slowly walked to my side and then slumped on the floor.

"When we were kids, you always followed my brother around." He said. I opened my eyes to see him on my right side. On the floor, looking at the wall across us. "He always thought you were like puppy, following him around. But he liked it. He liked having a little sister around."

 _Is he saying he was jealous that I stole his brother away from him? But they always looked so close._ I thought to myself. I relaxed my body, aware that I was far from any physical damage that Tsukishima could couse. I leaned on the wall behind me and listened to him as he continued on.

"When I tried to get close to you, you would always run towards my brother instead, crying." He stayed silent for a little while before saying the next line. Taking in a long deep breath, "it annoyed me a little that you picked him over me. You never even tried to look at me. Not even one chance. So, when I accidentally pushed you in the swimming pool that day, not knowing that you couldn't swim. You called for my name. For the first time you said, 'Kei.' And I thought, if torturing you was the only way for you to ever look at me, to ever say my name, then why not? But no matter how much I bullied you, it only worsened things. I didn't understand." He started laughing weirdly, oddly. "I was still a kid. But look at me," He looked right up at me, raising his head to get a better look at my shocked face. "I'm already this old, already this tall, and yet, I still don't know how to make you look at me. Deciding to use the ways of a kid to make you see me. I must be stupid." He looked back down and placed his head in the palms of my hands. "Daichi-san told me to say sorry. Hinata started yelling at me, too. Ah, I must be an idiot."

I sat down right beside him. I could feel the warmth of his body. I could see how tall he was despite us sitting down, I still needed to look up to see his eyes. I raised my hand, he saw it, and closed his eyes to flinch just a little. I softly placed it on his left cheek.

"I didn't mean to slap you this morning. Does it hurt?" I asked.

He raised an eyebrow. "People don't just accidentally slap people, Kana. I deserved it."

I shook my head, "What you deserve is a punch. Or probably a roundhouse kick."

He widened his eyes, "Sounds like fun. I'm not sure if you're capable of that though with that thin body of yours." Slowly his body shifted, he closed his eyes and rested his head on my hand. "It did hurt though."

"You hurt me more, Kei." I let go of my hand.

"I'm sorry." He murmured.

"I didn't hear that. What did you say?" I joked but I eagerly awaited to hear him say it.

"I know you heard it."

"But sorry isn't enough. You owe me for all those years of torture, Tsukishima Kei!" I stood up hastily, almost tripping on my feet.

He almost laughed, "You don't even know how to stand up, Kana. How should I owe you? Teach you how to stand?"

"Shut up, Tsukishima!"

He started laughing then, almost hysterically. I couldn't tell if it was fake but I liked it.

"How about this?" I said, "Let's go somewhere, just the both of us, and not once, NOT ONCE, are you allowed to criticize me. Only say good things to me!"

He stopped laughing then, "What? No."

"No more strawberry shortcake for you, Tsukishima!"

He thought about it for a moment. He looked down at the floor and then back up at me. Then, he pushed himself up, "The things I do for a piece of cake." He said while wiping any dirt off his pants. "Fine. Let's do that."

"Perfect, I wanted to watch this movie this Saturday."

He grinned then placed his hands on his hips, "It's a date, then?"

I blushed instincitively, hearing the word _date._ I almost said no until I realized, he was probably right. "Yes. It's a date!"

* * *

A/N: Hello hello, Thanks to those who followed this story. It's off to a slow start but things started boiling up quickly, huh. I haven't had much inspiration lately but one night of insomnia got me this chapter and I'm happy about it. I'm still awaiting reviews. Constructive Criticisms are still very much welcome. But yes, knowing that you're there would support me just a little. Thank you for taking your time to read my story.

Lynx


	3. Realizing the Truth

**LOOK AT ME**

 **Chapter 3: Realizing the Truth**

"So, why do you look so flustered, Kana-chan?" Erika-senpai asked. She was the leader of the cooking club, a third year who has been baking and cooking for most of her life. She has three younger siblings and her mother died when she was only eight years old, so she took the role of the mother at an early age. So, along with acting as the mother for three younger siblings, she also acted a lot like the mother of the cooking club.

She was busy mixing the batter manually but still looked fresh after melting chocolate, butter and pouring flour in the mixture. I, on the other hand, started the club's session by mixing sugar and butter without wearing my apron, ultimately sprinkling my uniform with brown sugar and yellow batter. After wearing the apron, I proceeded to measure flour onto a measuring cup, however my hand slipped and spilled the flour onto the table and my apron. The chocolate that I was melting almost spilled and I almost burned my palms while trying to hold the hot melting pot using my bare hands. It was a disaster in my side of the home economics room and Erika instantly pulled me after seeing the mess I was making and told me to take a break from club activities.

Cooking club proceeded despite my emotional encounter with Tsukishima Kei. I like baking, so it helped relieve the tension I was feeling at the moment. But I wasn't even able to concentrate properly today. So for my own safety and the safety of the food, I listened to my senpai.

"It probably has to do with that tall guy waiting outside awhile ago, before I entered the room." Aya, my classmate and best friend answered, "What was his name again? Tsukiyama?"

I don't know if she was joking but I also knew that even though we were close, I never really talked about Tsukishima in school. I did it just so that the rumours about both of us wouldn't spread like fire.

"Ooh. Did he ask you out on a date?" Hana-senpai asked, our resident romantic. She was a third year who acts nothing like a senpai. With her cute features and her short height, I first thought she was a freshman when I first saw her. But I was so wrong. "He looks cute" she added.

"It's Tsukishima" was all I said.

Reika, a first year from class 1-4 , looked at me in shock, "Seriously? Tsukishima? We're classmates and he's legit mean. He doesn't even talk much in class but if he does, it's all snarky comments. You know that guy who follows him around? Yamaguchi-kun. He literally shuts him up almost every time. I don't get why he follows that guy around like a puppy. It's all 'shut up, yamaguchi.' What do you like about him?"

Hana-senpai stopped pouring drops of cookies on the cookie tray to look at Reika, "But he looked dreamy, Reika-chan!"

I shrugged and said softly, "If you like him, the why don't you go on a date with him instead of me?"

"Eeeeh!" All six girls of the club yelled and almost dropped the utensils they were holding. It was silent for a short while, with just the sound of timer ticking.

"You're going on a date with him?" They asked almost simultaneously with echoes of 'him' pouring around.

"Nishinoya and Tanaka told me how mean that guy is, too." Suzu- senpai added. A second year, who's classmates with Nishinoya-senpai, and joined the cooking club because she says she wants to be lady like. However, she's been burning a lot of the things she's been baking and cooking and so all we ask her to do is measure the ingredients properly for all of us. "They said he always harasses that first year combo of theirs."

"Well, good looks aside, Kageyama is kind of stupid. So I'd know why he would be the butt of Tsukishima's jokes." Chizu said. She's classmates with Kageyama, and that's how I learned about him and his good looks, despite him being quite stupid.

"Ah yes, Kageyama. That's the real dream boat." Aya commented. She's the reason why I said his name yesterday. All she and Chizu ever talk about is Kageyama. They said that even though he has a weird temper and has really bad grades, they're in love with his good looks, height and manly voice. Oh help me understand these girls.

"So, Kana-chan, what did he do?"Erika-senpai asked. She's not only worried about us like a mother, she also cared about our grades, safety and almost nonexistent love lives. She's the only one with a boyfriend. A third year with kick ass karate skills.

I sighed, leaned on an unused stove and clasped my hands together. I looked down at my white school issued shoes and my dirty apron. I took a deep breath and said, "He said sorry and I told him that he owes and then I told him to act nice to me and next thing I know I set up a date without me actually knowing until he said we were going on a date." I rambled on quickly.

"Wait. Back up a minute." Aya said, raising her arms up like she was surrendering. "I'm like your best friend here and you never told me anything about Tsukishima. All you said is that he was your neighbour and that was it. I never asked what's going on between you two because you never wanted to talk about him. You said he was almost invisible to you and yet, here we are. He said he was sorry, for what? You're not telling me something here, Kana."

"Aya-chan, don't get mad at here." Erika-senpai said softly, brushing Aya's arms to reassure her. "Surely Kana has a reason for that, right, Kana-chan?"

I looked up at all six pairs of eyes staring back at me, awaiting an answer.

I gave them the depressing run down of how he was my childhood tormentor and his brother was my knight in shining armor. How I finally stood up to him which led to the most recent series of events.

"Tsukishima has a brother?" Reika asked.

"Yeah. Akiteru-oniisan. He was that guy who was so easy to get close to. He was always there whenever I felt down. He was there when I would cry, holding me tight. If I had a hard time sleeping whenever I slept over their place, he would tell me a funny bedtime story. He would even try to sing me to sleep despite his really bad singing voice. Sometimes, whenever Tsukishima would bully me Aki-oniisan was the one who would get mad at Tsukishima. I always felt safe in his arms. He was, kind of, amazing really." I could feel myself smiling remembering all those moments in his warm embrace. He was a sweet guy, honest, and really cared for me.

Hana senpai then spoke up, "Doesn't that mean you kind of like him?"

"Whoa, senpai, aren't we kind of getting ahead of ourselves here?" Aya asked briskly, before I even had time to think of answer.

"It kind of makes sense though because you kept going on talking about how he's your knight." Chizu said.

"Chizu! That's just an expression, right Kana? Right?" Aya asked. Jumping quickly to my side to look at my face.

But I couldn't move. Because it all made sense now. How I always ran to aki-oniisan first. How I picked him over Tsukishima every time. It wasn't because he was mean, it was probably because I liked him. I could feel my heart racing. Hear it beating. I touched my face and felt its warmth on my cheeks. I was blushing.

"Kana?" Aya asked once more.

"No way!" Reika exclaimed. "You really do like him!"

"But he sounds so much better than Tsukishima though." Suzu commented.

"But –" I finally said, first word uttered and I don't know how to continue. "I never knew that I liked him before but I loved being with him. I never understood that feeling when I was with him. I was too young to understand. I kind of hoped that I would see him when I returned here but they said he's away so he comes home rarely. I've been kind of hoping that he'd come home to see me. But, after waiting, I kind of gave up and never thought about him again. I was just really..."

"Hoping?" Aya tried to fill in.

I nodded. "But it was all subconscious feelings up until, I think, right now."

"And now that you know, what are you gonna do?" Erika-senpai asked. She continued her task and spread the brownie batter on the baking pan. Suzu-senpai quickly went over to assist her. Everyone followed suit and continued on with their business.

"I don't know. I'll have to figure out my true feelings first and then I'll think of something then."

"In the mean time, what does this Tsukishima like eating?" Reika asked, "Let's whip up something good so that he'll never hate you again?

"Strawberry shortcake." I answered, almost too quickly.

Aya, Chizu and Reika started laughing immediately. "That face and strawberry shortcake does not match at all." Aya commented.

"He looks like the kind of guy who would eat something spicy." Chizu added.

"Or meat! All meat!" Suzu-senpai said.

"He kind of looked like a vegetarian to me." Hana-senpai piped up.

"He does not seem like the kind of guy who would worry about the lives of animals or the life of anyone for that matter." Reika said.

"He's just really fond of strawberries, actually." I said.

"Well, now that we've settled that." Erika-senpai said, after placing the chocolate fudge brownies into the oven. "Why don't we all concentrate on what we're doing. The kids at the orphanage said that they wanted to give the sweets at seven PM and we don't want to be late. This is Haru-chan's first birthday in the orphanage and we have to make it special for him, ok?"

We all answered with a big yes.

"Kana-chan, I know you're having problems, but maybe after you've said your feelings, you'll feel better and after baking these chocolate goodies, you'll feel a lot lighter. Can you work now, Kana?" Erika-senpai asked me.

I smiled immediately and agreed to work swiftly but efficiently.

Time passed quickly while we were all baking. We all tried to come up with ways to make the date a lot crazier and crazier but in the end, we decided to just go with the flow. Before we knew it, all the 30 cookies, 15 cupcakes and 30 squares of brownies were baked. We packed them in little plastic containers and handed them over to Reika and Chizu. It was their turn to go to the orphanage and hand over the goodies. They left quickly, making sure to arrive the orphanage before seven PM just in time for the party.

The five of us were left to clean the utensils and close up.

"The orphanage would probably want us to deal with their next birthday again." Hana-senpai said while I locked up the home economics room. The school was almost completely dark with the just lights switched on by the stairs and the exit lights lit. Aya who despite her strong character, had a great fear of the dark and held on to my arm tightly.

"I was kind of hoping they would ask us to make a birthday cake." Suzu-senpai said.

"I don't get why you would want to make a cake when you can hardly make a cupcake." I commented.

"Hey! Don't go all Tsukishima on me! If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have properly measured ingredients." She retorted.

Erika-senpai just sighed. "As long as you're all here, we can make whatever we want to make, ok?"

The sun had already set and most of the students had already left. If there were any students still in school, they were mostly in sports clubs. But Karasuno hardly had any hardworking sports clubs, other than the Volleyball Club. And sometimes Track. We walked side by side to the entrance of the school when I heard footsteps behind us and male voices talking cheerfully – but mostly yelling, I presume.

"Ah, it seems like the volleyball club just finished practicing." Aya said, almost too cheerfully. Almost as if she awaited this moment to arrive so she could finally say that line. We sometimes leave the school at this hour but the sports clubs are usually busy training by this time, so we have never ran into anyone on the way home.

I looked to check if the gym number two's lights were on but they were just as dark as the night sky.

"Nakamura-san!" A high pitched voice yelled behind us. Aya, who was shocked by the sound, tightened her grip on my arm.

The five of us turned around to see all the regulars volleyball club. I looked at each one of them but purposely skipped looking at Tsukishima.

"Hinata-kun." I raised my hand in a wave. "You guys just finished?"

"Yep!" He said while jogging towards me. "Did you just finish baking?" He eyed the plastic I was carrying. We had extra squares of brownies and cookies so we all got five of each. We always make extra batches for ourselves because Erika-senpai likes to think that we shouldn't only be baking for other people but also for ourselves.

I nodded.

Nishinoya-senpai and, a bald guy, who I think was Tanaka-senpai came right behind him. "Suzu! It seems you have sweets in there!" They both seemed to say simultaneously.

Suzu-senpai laughed hysterically, "What I have here, Noya-san, Tanaka-san, is the delicacies of the best chefs in Karasuno."

"Senpai, all you did was measure the ingredients though." Aya and I said at the same time. We thought it was hilarious we said the same thing and gave each other a high five.

"Hoy, you two. Just because you guys have been baking forever, you shouldn't insult the efforts of one who tries hard." Suzu-senpai said will full conviction.

"That's correct, Suzu." Nishinoya-senpai agreed, "If it isn't for people like you, then who would inspire those who have no talent at baking at all but desire to learn that art."

"Aaaah! Noya-san! That sounded so cool!" Hinata started yelling.

We all laughed at Hinata's pure hearted enthusiasm.

"But I feel that I'm gaining weight from all the sweets we're eating." Suzu-senpai said while sighing loudly, "Maybe I should just share this with you guys."

Nishinoya and Tanaka-senpai smiled gleefully at the mention of sharing the food.

I looked behind me and sa that this tall black haired third year walked towards Erika-senpai, "Ishida-san. Sorry for the ruckus. You're leaving a lot later than usual."

Erika-senpai just smiled, "We were baking some sweets for the kids in the orphanage. It's one of the kid's birthday, Sawamura-san. Actually, I still have some extras here. I don't actually like giving my siblings sweets at night because I have a hard time making them sleep. You can have what I'm carrying here."

"Ah, no no, I can't accept that." Sawamura-san replied, waving his hands side to side.

"Eh. Why, Daichi? It looks good, actually." This gray haired third year said, followed by a tall guy with long hair that was tied up.

"Ah, Suga-san." Hana-senpai said, "If Sawamura –san doesn't like it, I guess you can have it, right Erika-chan?"

"Yup." Erika handed it over to the third year named Suga-san.

Suga was smiling when he received the plastic but said, "Your boyfriend wouldn't mind? I don't want to be karate kicked tomorrow when I see him in class."

Erika-senpai laughed, "He won't mind. I'm making him a bento anyway."

Suga-san just scratched his head and laughed.

Aya and I glanced at the third years talking and she whispered, "Kageyama is legit right behind you Kana, can we like exchange so I could be close to him?"

 _Was she serious?_ I looked behind me and bowed to Kageyama, who in turn, looked shocked to see me, but bowed, too. I've never been properly introduced to this guy but its courtesy to bow to a person you just looked at for a second. I looked to his left and noticed that Tsukishima was standing beside him. I whispered back, "If we exchanged, then I would be right in front of Tsukishima and I wouldn't want that."

Aya raised an eye brow. Before she could reply, Hinata stood right in front of us and said almost too loudly, "So, Nakamura-san, how is everything with you and Tsukishima?"

All the cooking club girls looked at me, at the same time, all the volleyball boys turned to look. My heart stopped. I whispered to Hinata, "Why did you say it so loud?"

"Eh! Was it a secret?" Hinata exclaimed loudly again, noticing that he was yelling he whispered, "Shouldn't I have told Tsukishima that you were mad at him?"

I remembered now that Tsukishima said that this third year named Daichi-san and Hinata were getting mad at him or something.

Sawamura-senpai then spoke up and said, "Well, Nakamura-san, did he apologize?"

Suga-san then stood beside him, plastic of sweets in hand, "Hinata here couldn't stop yelling at Tsukishima awhile ago, telling him that you weren't feeling so good because of him. It was quite an amazing sight actually. Daichi-san here told him to go apologize to whoever he needed to apologize to." He said while patting Sawamura-senpai on the back.

I looked back at Tsukishima and noticed that he looked slightly annoyed. He wouldn't look at me in the eye and his face was turned away from me. Tanaka-senpai appeared behind Tsukishima and said, "Oi oi oi, Tsukishima, don't tell me you didn't do what Daichi-san told you to do."

Before things could get out of hand, I spoke up."Uh, senpai?" Aya's hand let go of my arm, but this time, I took hold of her wrist. Trying to find strength in the warmth I felt in my palm.

"Yes, Nakamura-san." Sawamura-senpai replied.

"He did as he was told. All is well." I tried to smile cheerfully but I'm pretty sure it didn't turn out as expected.

"Well, then," NIshinoya-senpai was pushing me forwards, while trying to push Tsukishima towards the same direction. "Why don't you two go on home ahead? The rest of us have something to do."

"What? No." Tsukishima said, with a disgusted face, "Yamaguchi, lets go."

Yamaguchi didn't move. He looked at his friend and then at me, he smiled and placed his palms together in front of his face, as if apologetic. "They're right, Tsukki. I have to do something with these guys, so you guys go home together?"

"Eh? What's there to do? You said you had to go home."

"Sorry, Tsukki."

"Tch." Not caring that he needed to go home alone.

I looked to Aya and whispered. "I don't know why you're staying either, you're like the only first year girl here. And I know what that Nishinoya-senpai is planning, I don't like it."

"I don't what you're scared about. It's not like it's your first time walking home with him. Besides he apologized, right?" she whispered back.

"It's pretty obvious you're doing this because you get a chance to be close to Kageyama."

She smiled coyly.

"Hey, Aya!" Suzu-senpai said, "We have to help these volleyball dorks with that something."

I raised an eyebrow and pulled Aya, "Can Suzu-senpai act anymore obvious?"

Erika-senpai walked closer to me, followed by Hana-senpai. "You two will be fine. Just think of it as a prelude to your date."

"And we are doing something," Suzu-senpai smiled. She raised her plastic of sweets and said, "We're sharing this with all of you guys!" She lunged to the back of Nishinoya and Tanaka-senpai and patted their backs. "You guys need energy for all that practice you guys do!"

The two male second years and Hinata-kun (and I'm pretty sure Kageyama-kun, too) began yelling, "Yes!" in excitement.

All the volleyball boys and the cooking club girls waved at us and said their goodbyes while I walked behind Tsukishima, who walked ahead of me while I said my goodbyes to the girls.

I was kind of hoping that things would be fixed right away with me and Tsukishima but I guess, when you're not entirely close as children, it's hard to fix anything. I never knew how to speak with him and usually, when we went home together, we hardly said anything. I used to try to tell him stories about my classmates the first few times, but he would sometimes never answer, especially with his head phones always playing music or if he did reply, it would be a mean retort.

"By the way, you could have some of these baked goods."

He didn't look back at me. He still wasn't wearing the headphones, so he could still hear me obviously.

"Still won't eat anything I make?" I asked.

No reply came. He walked with one hand in his pocket and the other holding his cellphone. He was already probably picking a song to play.

"Last week, I brought chocolate mousse with strawberry toppings to your house. A few days before that was strawberry shortcake. You had a strawberry filled pancakes some time ago. And mocha cake with strawberry topping a few weeks back. I made all of those. And I saw you eat every single one of those. Down to the last bite. So don't lie and tell me you don't like what I make."

He didn't stop walking but he replied quickly, "I know you made them."

I rushed to walk by his side and said, "How would you know? It's not like you would know what's the difference between what me and my mom bake. You're just bluffing."

"Not bluffing."

"Then tell me."

He smirked, "Eh, really want to know? Why not try begging?"

I stopped walking, "Forget it. I thought things would be fine after we talked awhile ago but never mind, it's never going to be fine." I walked ahead of him quickly. Who wanted to go home with a guy like him anyway? He never listened to a word I said, and he would always just say sarcastic comments.

"You present the food a lot better than your mom does."

I was brought to a halt and looked back at him. For the first time, he was looking straight at my eyes.

"My brother noticed. He said that there was a difference with the cakes that you brought." He placed his hands on his hips, and continued, "Once there was a chocolate cake with just plain frosting, and the next week, it was the same cake with frosting and intricate designs around it. You were starting to bake at that time and my brother noticed that your mom never brought cake that looked like that. He noticed which ones were yours and that's how I knew." He shrugged, then quickly placed the headphones over his head and pulled out his phone, "Tch. Why do I even bother?"

 _His brother noticed._

"So, that time I told you that my mom made it, you knew that it was me?"

He looked up at me while scrolling through his phone and shrugged.

"Then why did you still eat it?"

He pushed the headphones down again, "It's obvious, isn't it?"

 _What's obvious? You eat what I bake because what? You wait for me to mess up so that you can say something mean? To spite me? To hate me?_ I thought to myself _Or is it something more complicated, what would Hana-senpai say? Is it because he likes me?_

After a few seconds of silence, he said, "You bake better cakes than your mom."

 _Oh. So it's just that simple._

A/N: Long long chapter? Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed and favorited. Wow, I didn't think that people would actually be reading this. I didn't know if people out there still read fanfiction and if there were Tsukki fans like me. But anyway, sudden plot twist. I didn't even notice happening. So, now we've met a whole bunch of new characters and the volleyball dorks finally arrive. Kageyama hasn't said a single word though and all the volleyball dorks are acting like Tsukki/Kana fanboys. And I don't know if you noticed but I love using Hinata as a catalyst for their relationship to flourish. He's just such a simple and light hearted character, he makes me feel so happy. I hope to find more inspiration for the 4th chapter. Till the next chapter. See you!

Lynx


	4. Prelude to A Beginning

**LOOK AT ME**

 **Chapter 4: The Prelude to a Beginning**

Friday morning, Aya was yelling at my ears asking me what the plans were for the date. I couldn't find an answer to the question. The night before, Tsukishima just confessed that his brother was the one who was able to tell the difference between my baked goods from my mother's. We walked home silently after that. Astounded as I was, my heart wouldn't stop beating from knowing about the truth.

 _Aki-san noticed._

That kept me awake for almost the whole night. I couldn't stop thinking about it. That took me to the next step – daydreaming. Or day dreaming even though it was already night time. I thought of the possibilities. If I saw him, what would I tell him? Should I try to impress him? Wear something nice? And then what would he say? Should I tell him I like him? Does he like me? What if he likes me too? Will we go out on a date?

The questions were endless.

But the night was not. And next thing I knew, the time was already 3 O'clock, and if I had not watched Exorcism of Emily Rose, I wouldn't have been scared. So, I left my lamp light on and forced myself to sleep and tried not imagining weird scary images of women with dark black hair and white dresses hovering over my bed.

"So, you guys didn't talk about the date at all?" Aya asked.

"Nope. It never came up. I think we both forgot about it."

She pushed my shoulder, "I don't believe you. Who would forget about a date? I've never been on a date ever, and here you are with your perfect high school debut and a date already!"

"Well, forget about my not so perfect high school debut. How was Kageyama-kun last night?" I raised my eyebrows.

Aya looked like she was shining. "It was perfect! Although, he didn't talk at all. Whenever I asked him a question, he would nod and so that actually meant, he was listening right?"

I tilted my head, "You talked to him? Well, that's something. Good job!"

She started blushing and covered her face while shaking her head almost too rapidly, "Oh no no! I just told him how I baked and who we give it to. I was about to ask him how he started playing volleyball but Chizu asked first. Ugh!"

"So he did talk!"

She sighed, "No. Hinata interrupted and asked if he could practice his spikes and then they both left right away."

She sat on the table beside mine and saw that Hinata had finally arrived. Hinata was my seatmate since the beginning of time. She quickly got off and I whispered, "There's the culprit. Now ask him what's his relationship with Kageyama and why are they so close?"

She pushed my shoulder softly. "Kageyama and Hinata are both pure. They're just partners in crime or something."

I raised an eyebrow. "Emphasis on partners."

"You're so mean." Then we both laughed hysterically.

When Hinata approached his chair we both greeted him cheerfully trying not to break into laughter again.

Hinata's sullen gaze looked up to both of us. From his tired disposition, he quickly changed to his quirky one. It seems that volleyball has taken a toll on his body.

" Morning!" he yelled, "Thanks for the sweets last night. It gave Kageyama and I energy to practice some more."

I looked to Aya who looked to me. And we both mouthed the words while covering our mouth, "Energy to practice?" And then laughed again.

"What's wrong?"

We both said, "Nothing."

"So, Yamaguchi said that you and Tsukishima are going on out on a date?" Hinata asked.

Aya and I both stopped laughing.

"Yamaguchi spilled?" Aya asked.

"I don't really think it was a secret, Aya." I said.

"It's true? Whoa! I can't believe it!" Hinata yelled. Everyone in class turned around to look at us. He quickly noticed and closed his mouth. The silence was quickly replaced by noise.

"Well, yeah. But I don't really know what we're doing tomorrow."

"So, ask him." Hinata said.

"Hmm, that's possible but I think he forgot. We didn't talk about it last night."

"That's because you didn't ask him." Aya retorted.

"I didn't want to seem like I was excited."

"He didn't forget. He told Yamaguchi about it this morning. So, he can't have forgotten." Hinata said.

"What did he tell him?" Aya asked.

Hinata shrugged. "I don't know. Yamaguchi just told us that." He stopped to think and then he placed his fist on his palm as if a mighty light bulb moment appeared, "Ah, he said something like Tsukishima didn't know what to do and Yamaguchi didn't have an answer because he's never gone out before."

Aya and I sighed. That would totally make sense.

"I guess, that means you'll have to talk to him later, Kana."

"He doesn't do any lunch practice so he's free then." Hinata said

But I really didn't want to go to his room and talk to him in front of his classmates. There are already rumors about him and me and it might just worsen. I hate rumors. They're the worst.

Hinata could sense my apprehension and said, "We can go together with you, right?" he looked at Aya and added, "he's a little stubborn during lunch time but if it's you, he'll probably talk."

Aya smiled, "Great idea, Hinata! I never knew you were so smart." She started patting his head.

Aya and Hinata are practically the same height, so she has no problem reaching for his head. Hinata happily allowed her to rustle his hair.

The school bells rang not long after and classes began. Hinata dozed off a few moments after, and our teacher seemed quiet insistent in standing right beside Hinata until he woke up. Which he did, after his head hit the table, the teacher didn't look too happy but the class was certainly sniffling a laughter.

Lunch time came quickly and before I could even touch my bento, Aya and Hinata were already pulling me to class 1-4. I didn't even have time to breath when I heard someone say, "You're looking for Tsukishima?"

I looked up and saw Yamaguchi grinning. He pointed to the blond with glasses who was sitting on his chair, "He's just reading so you can go ahead."

The three of us walked behind Yamaguchi who tapped Tsukishima's shoulder. He looked up at Yamaguchi and pulled his headphones back. He didn't even get to say anything before he saw the three of our heads peek behind Yamaguchi's tall stature.

"What do they want, Yamaguchi?" he asked.

"Kana has something to say." Hinata answered then the three of them pushed me in front and I was face to face with Tsukishima within milliseconds.

Tsukishima raised an eyebrow. And all I could say was, "Uh.. err... hmm..."

"If you have nothing to say, then don't waste my time." He quickly wore his headphones and looked down at his book.

I sighed.

Aya then tapped his back, "Tsukiyama-kun."

 _Is she purposely forgetting his name?_ I wondered

"It's Tsukishima." He answered, without even removing his headphones. So, he could hear us.

"Right. Kana here just wanted to ask what you're going to do about tomorrow."

I looked around us and tried to see if anybody was watching this conversation go on. Some students were busy talking to each other, others were eating but I could see a number trying to glimpse at our side of the room.

"Tomorrow?"

"The date." Aya said clearly.

And that did it. Almost everyone in the room was looking.

"Aya" I whispered. She was still staring down Tsukishima, who removed the headphones completely off his head. "Aya" I said again.

She looked back at me. "Kana. We're having this conversation right now, or it's never going to happen."

I whispered my answer, "Well, can we not do it in front of the whole class?"

"Huh?" She looked around the classroom and noticed that all the eyes were looking at her. And I think the class misunderstood that it was Aya asking Tsukishima out on a date and not me. I felt a little relieved but in the end, a little pity for Aya's heart who loved Kageyama to no end.

"Oh my." She said and then started waving her hands around. "Oh no. Not me. I'm not going out on a date with this guy." She started yelling in front of everyone who was surely all looking at her now.

Yamaguchi, sensing the problems that could arise from this, pulled Aya's arm and said, "Maybe we should talk to you guys outside."

I aimlessly walked behind the four of them who walked down the stairs and out of the building before going by the gym. Is this their only chill spot? I though rooftops were cool, but these guys have a serious love for volleyball. Aya and the rest of the guys left us behind in front of the gym. While they went to the nearby vending machine to grab some drinks, obviously trying to listen in to our conversation.

"So, tomorrow, huh?" Tsukishima said. "We can just do whatever."

I suddenly remembered what I told him when we spoke a few days ago, "M- m- movie." I stuttered.

He raised his head and looked at me. He placed his hand on his neck and said, "A movie?"

"There was this movie that I wanted to watch recently. But nobody wants to watch it with me because its not my friends' style."

"What is it?"

"Jurassic World"

He looked a little taken aback. "Didn't know that was your style."

 _You'd never know because you never tried to know anything about me._ I thought.

"We can do that. Let's meet outside your house tomorrow before lunch? Eleven in the morning?"

I nodded.

"I'm going ahead."

I heard footsteps leave me behind and his was joined by another pair with the words, "Oi, Tsukki!"

I looked up and saw Aya and Hinata run towards me and I said, "Well, that turned out better than I expected."

"Good job, Kana-san!" Hinata said, and after which he blushed immediately saying, "No, I meant, Nakamura-san."

Aya and I smiled at each other. We had both noticed how Hinata had slowly became one of our closest friend. Even though he was clearly busy with becoming a better volleyball player, he seemed to be working hard to be a good friend, too. He deserved our friendship.

"No, Shoyou. It's thanks to you that I was able to talk to him for lunch. You can call me Kana with no problem at all."

"And you can call me Aya!" Aya chirped.

Shoyou's smile grew immensely and the three of us laughed. The school bell rang. We had forgotten to eat lunch. Our stomachs were grumbling as we ran to our classroom. But I was happy. I was happy that returning to Miyagi turned out to be something amazing. I looked at my two friends who raced ahead of me while laughing like madmen. This year was going to turn out perfect.

* * *

A/n: hello hello, you'll probably never read this because chapter 5 is out. HAHA. Yes yes, i've released them at the same time because this chapter is short. I just really wanted to add Hinata in this chapter and I want to call him Shoyou so bad that it's become an addiction.

Thanks again and again for favoriting, following and reviewing. I'd love to hear more from all of you, guys.

Lynx


	5. The Sun is Out

**LOOK AT ME**

 **Chapter 5: The Sun is Out**

"Hoy, Aya, what do you exactly wear for a date?"

"Something cute, I guess?" She answered, over the speakerphone. I had all my dresses and skirts laid out on the bed. A little bit of make up was displayed on my table, some of which were Aya's. She and Reika had to give me a short class on wearing make up since I wasn't a huge fan of wearing it. "Something that would make him want to ravish you tonight."

"Ravish? I don't even think we'll be together till night time, Aya. Why are we talking about eating each other up?" I asked while picking up this light yellow sleeveless dress.

"Who said anything about eating anyone up, Kana?"

"You did." I could hear her giggling, "Anyway, what about this yellow dress. It's a sleeveless dress."

"Send me a photo online." I could hear her footsteps walking towards a laptop, perhaps. "Better yet, send me a picture of all the cute little dresses you have there."

I did as told and sent five photos, along with photos of my shoes.

"You still remember how to do your make up?" she reminded me.

I sat on the bed as I waited for her decision. "Yes, maam, just a little light make up."

"Ah! This dress! It's starting to get warm anyway."

"What dress, Aya? I can't see what you're pointing at."

"This little white halter top dress. It shows your perfect shoulders and it lands right about your knees. It's not too short as if to seduce him but not too long as to be hiding too much. It even has a nice bodice to show off those small little curves you have. Your A-cup boobs will be a problem but at least they're present. And you can wear those wedges that you like wearing a lot since you're so short or those high top chucks which I want to steal from you. But you'll be so tiny compared to him with that. So, it's the wedges."

I looked at the dress she was talking about. I never wore it but my mother bought it for me when we were in Tokyo, just a little after my mom and dad started talking about the divorce. She bought it to release the stress she was carrying. Shopping and baking were her happiest moments. And she needed a time away from home. I've never worn it because it reminded me of how sad she was but now that she's moved on, she'll be happy to see me wear it.

"It's perfect, Aya. Thanks." I hastily got the dress off my bed and returned all the dresses. "I'll have to start changing now, it's almost time and I still have to do my face."

"Good luck, Kana! Don't make him hate you anymore than he already does!"

I hesitantly dabbed on make up on my cheeks and then later on my whole face. I jumped from powder to blush to trying to place eyeliner and realized I was failing badly. I decided to delete that idea completely when my mom knocked and pushed open the door.

"You're going out with Kei, right? What are you doing? It's almost eleven already." She then opened the door wider and noticed what I was doing to my face. She began throwing me a barrage of questions. "Why are you putting on make up? Why are you wearing that dress? Are you sure it's Kei you're going with? I don't believe it? Who is this boy?"

Before I could reply she grabbed the eyeliner pencil out of my hand and picked up a liquid eyeliner from my table, "That eyeliner isn't water proof. Use this. So that it won't smudge. " She grabbed my chin and lifted my head up, "Now close your eyes and don't move."

I closed my eyes and felt the light movements of the brush on my eyes.

"Now, tell me, Kana-chan."

"It is Kei."

"What?" She lifted up the brush. "Did he confess to you or something? I always thought you hated him."

"No, Mom. I got him to apologize to me and we're going to watch a movie together as a way of an apology."

"And you're all dressed up because?"

I shrugged. She was already done with both my eye lids and I could feel her blowing on them to dry.

"Is this a date?"

"Probably."

"Do you like him?"

I shook my head.

"You can open your eyes now." She smiled, satisfied with the look, "You look so pretty. Now, let me take care of everything else. We don't want to overdo your face but let's give him a little shock now, ok?"

I nodded my head and gave her a hug, "Thanks, Mom."

Time moved quickly. My hair was left to its wavy devices but my face was all dolled up to perfection. Well, as perfect as it could get. My eyelashes seemed longer with the mascara, and my eyes seemed to shine brighter despite being so dark brown. My lips and blush were light pink but it gave my color a brighter tone. The halter top white dress also seemed great, not too trying hard but still there. I brought a small backpack,where I placed a grey cardigan, just in case the cinema becomes too cold.

I started to imagine what Tsukishima would look like. Would he just look like he was going out of his house for a stroll? Or probably he would he be just like me? Ready for a date? Nah. Probably not. Probably just a plain shirt and shorts. I should just guess the color of the shirt. Blue. Navy blue. Probably that color. Or purple.

My phone rang. Tsukishima had texted.

 _I'm outside._

I rushed out of my room and onto the door, fumbling with my wedges. My mom yelled from the kitchen, "You can tell him to come inside. I won't bite."

"You won't. But he will." I replied after getting to close the wedges around my ankles properly. I felt taller and at the same time a little wobbly. But I can handle this. I said my goodbyes to my mom and took a deep breath before I opened the door. I saw a blonde head over our short gate. He didn't move, headphones on head, hands in pockets, head looked up. I couldn't see what he was wearing but I could see a tinge of navy blue. I got that right, for sure.

I opened our small gate. He looked down at me, not too low this time with the help of the wedges. He pulled down his headphones and said, "Well, you're all dressed up. What's the occasion?"

"Well, so are you, Tsukishima."

He sure was wearing navy blue, but it was a long sleeve navy blue polo, folded up to the sleeves. Just the way I like it. He had on jeans that weren't too tight but his usuals, and brown sneakers. I scan through him from head to toe, if it wasn't for his personality, I would seriously give this guy a chance.

"See something you like, Kana?"

"Shut up, let's just get going. I'm already starting to get hungry."

We walked with him in front and me behind him. It was usually just this way anyway, so even though we looked like we were on a date, we didn't have to change anything. He also didn't say anything, so I didn't see any reason to say anything. But for some reason, I felt this unwarranted awkwardness. I've walked home with this guy a couple of times, we've already fallen into this comfortable silence that we've created. But today, I feel like I need to talk to him.

I took longer strides and walked beside him. I wouldn't know if he had noticed my appearance beside him but he didn't seem to comment. But I seriously had to say something, we only needed to take the bus and then we'd be in our destination in around 20 minuntes. Was there any way to make time faster? But no, we still had to eat lunch together before we watch the movie. That would be another 30 minutes, I guess. This is going to be a long day, why did I say that we had to go out today.

"Aren't you going to be a little cold in the cinema with what you're wearing?"

I looked at Tsukishima and saw that he was looking at me, or more specifically what I was wearing. "I brought a cardigan, just in case. Don't worry, I come prepared."

"Ah" he nodded and looked on. His headphones were still around his neck. And for conversation purpose, I had to ask the question that was boggling everyone's mind.

"What do you listen to? I mean, you always get your head in your headphones whenever no one's talking to you. It must be good."

"Hmm?" He grabbed the headphone with one hand, still hanging around his neck, "Mostly English music."

"Eh!" That took me by surprise. He never seemed to be listening to English songs to me, but then again, we had our doubts. I mean, he didn't look like he was jamming with JPop in there. "Like those American Top 40s?"

He snickered, "Who listens to crap like that? I bet you do. I bet you don't even understand it."

I furrowed my eyebrows. Yes, I did listen to my share of Rihanna and Beyonce and a little Nicki Minaj and Yes, I sometimes didn't understand what they were saying, but it wasn't crap. I just didn't want to admit it to his face.

"Ah, so it's true." He smiled just a little and returned to normal, "Just these indie bands I find online. Some are American, some are British."

Wow. Indie English songs. This guy is literally a cut above the rest. He doesn't even listen to popular songs. He's just different from everyoneow, isn't he?

"What are you staring at? It's better than what you probably listen to. Jpop? Arashi? NEWS? Ringing a bell?"

"You're seriously pissing me off right now."

Honestly, I thought I told him he shouldn't say anything sarcastic today. He probably forgot. I should probably remind him.

"You know, I thought I told you, you shouldn't be so mean to me today."

"Huh? I wasn't that mean."

"Yes you were."

"No, I wasn't."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes!" I yelled. Right in front of everyone lining up for the bus. They all stared at me. And this old man, standing in front of the line looked at me with glaring eyes. I messed up again. Why does Tsukishima always win?

"I win, then." Tsukishima proclaimed.

"Fine. We weren't even having a competition here." I mumbled.

"Even if we did have one, Kana, you'd lose every one of them."

I was tired of him and his sarcastic witty retorts. It was exhausting trying to think of a reply. But sometimes, I enjoyed them, if he wasn't being extra mean though. I must be masochistic. But it was probably because that was the only way we had conversations, I should ask Yamaguchi how he lasted having a best friend like this guy.

The bus had arrived and we walked slowly to our spot. The bus wasn't especially full and we were both able to sit down. I sat by the window, he sat beside me.

"So, how did you become friends with Yamaguchi-kun. I was probably in Tokyo by that time because I don't remember him at all in elementary school." I prodded

"Some boy scout volleyball club. Apparently, he told me I saved him from something, I couldn't recall."

I was shocked he answered me right away without any sort of retort. So it was possible to have a conversation with this guy.

"And he's stuck with you since? He probably thinks you're some big shot hero. He's probably disappointed when he actually finally knew you."

He raised his eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you're an ass sometimes." I shook my head and looked out the window, "I mean, most of the time. And you always say such mean comments. You don't even give half a damn about the things you do. My mom told me once, that when she spoke to your mom, she said that she saw so much hope in you but noticed that you were kind of lacking. Could have made top grades but just didn't try hard enough." I immediately covered my mouth. _Shit, I said too much. My mom told me not to tell him that. Shit._

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that. I mean..."

"You didn't mean to say what my mom told your mom, but she meant every word she said." He blatantly said out loud. "Doesn't matter what she says, I'm not trying to impress her."

Oh no. I just made the atmosphere a lot worse than it already was. And we just got on the bus, how long were we going to be travelling?

"I know what everyone says, Kana. It doesn't matter. I live my own life."

"You make your own choices?" I turned my head towards his and saw that he had his eyes closed. "I know, but sometimes, don't you think you're going to end up making the wrong choices? You don't ask anyone for help, you decide for yourself, you fix your own problems. It's an honourable way to live. But... it's tiring being alone."

"And you'd know that because? You always seem too friendly with anyone anyway to even know what it's like to be alone."

"My last year of middle school." I didn't know why either, but I just felt like I needed to tell him everything. Why we returned to Miyagi. Why I'm here again. I didn't want to face him though while I reminisced. So I turned away and continued.

"My dad's job had him moved to another town, we were still in Tokyo but in a different prefecture. I transferred after the summer break, I had a hard time finding friends because everyone was already in groups. I tried to join a club in the school but for some reason there were no cooking clubs. I didn't have any friends in school, and at the same time my grades were dropping and when I got home, my dad was coming home a lot drunker than usual. That started it all. He was a lot harsher than usual, too. He'd get mad at me that my grades were so low, that I wasn't doing anything but lazing around the house, that I was useless. You wouldn't know how much I wanted to run away from home. But I thought middle school was going to end soon. I'd start off high school somewhere else. Start fresh. Make sure my dad wouldn't hate me. I'll make a perfect high school debut. But they divorced. And we ran off here, instead. Safer. Away from him. Away from that past. It was short. But it was something I don't want to try ever again."

I was looking out the window, head away from Tsukishima. I could see his reflection out the window, he was listening intently to the story. I could tell. But he had nothing to say. What can you say after that, anyway?

"Tragic, huh?" I said, then giggled after. "But don't worry. I'm fine now."

We had arrived our stop not long after. Tsukishima made sure I got off first and he followed behind me. He still had not said a single word.

"Maybe we should just go to a fast food restaurant for lunch. I'm starving." I suggested

"You're stomach's unnecessarily big, huh? Careful, you might not fit the dress right after." He said.

I laughed. That was better. That was a whole lot better than hearing him say good for nothing words about my life. I didn't want to talk about that. That was the past. I was here now with this annoying guy for a date. But it's better than nothing.

I had ordered a big burger deluxe meal which was technically this burger with two patties of meat and lots of fries and a large coke. Tsukishima went with a normal burger.

"Don't normal girls eat small when it comes to dates?" he asked.

"What would you know about dates? And what would you know about normal girls?"

He quickly smiled and said, "Well, I should probably say yes to those many girls lining up for me and telling me their feeling so I could quickly learn more about dating and normal girls. They should be a whole lot better companion than you, don't you think?"

"I think anyone else would be a better companion than you, right now."

"You do realize I paid for what you're gobbling on, Kana." His quick retort came.

I tried to pay for my meal but Tsukishima had quickly gotten his wallet out while I was rummaging through my bag for mine. I didn't even have time to tell him I was going to pay because the cashier had already given him a receipt and his change.

"I didn't know you were interested in dinosaurs though." Tsukishima said.

"Huh? I'm not. I've just been really excited for the film. I watched Jurassic Park as a child and I was so fascinated by it. Plus, I heard the reviews were good. I couldn't miss this one out. Why? You into dinosaurs or anything?" I asked while trying to fit the whole burger into my tiny mouth.

"Huh? No." His instant reply came.

And then I suddenly remembered. When we were kids, Aki-san used to give him dinosaur figurines. Oh my gosh. I just stepped on a huge part of Tsukishima. This kid loved dinosaurs. The questions is, does he still love them until now?

"Wait, but you were always excited whenever your brother gave you a dinosaur toy when we were kids! That was like the only time I remember you smiling in front of me. You never smiled when I was there but Aki-san always told me that you were nicer when I wasn't around. Stop lying. I know how much you used to like them."

He sighed, "So what if I liked dinosaurs? I was a kid back then."

"But you still keep those toys don't you."

"Well, don't you still keep your stuff toys?"

I nodded. "True. That makes sense. But you always did like strawberries ever since we were kids. It's comfort food for you, isn't it?"

"I guess."

"Well, I like chocolate. Love love chocolate. Chocolate with strawberry tastes divine though."

He nodded.

"So, maybe, you should let me try listening to your music. I mean, if you're so proud of them, you should let me hear it."

"What's the point?" he said, while resting his head on his palm, "You wouldn't be able to understand it."

"Didn't someone say that music is universal. It doesn't matter what language, if it's good, anyone can appreciate it."

He sighed, "Fine then. He got his headphones off his head and pushed them to my side of the table. He pulled out his smartphone and scrolled through. I got the headphones on my head and I heard him say, "tell me if it's too loud." He sighed again and said, "I should probably start with this."

Then I heard a duet start singing in English. Softly a keyboard was playing. I didn't understand them at all. Then I heard a violin start off a little after, soft beats came in at the same time.

"This is nice." I started humming along. "What's it called?"

"Drive by Oh Wonder." He said in English. I almost couldn't understand what he was saying. Then he translated the title into Japanese. Ah. Now that made a little sense. I wonder what the singers were saying. It sounded sad.

"What are they trying to say?" I asked.

"Which part?"

"The chorus." I tried humming the tune for him but he wasn't having it.

"I don't remember the song. Hand it over." He listened to it for a short while with one ear then translated the lyrics. "the singer's saying that being in love with this person is too hard. She keeps getting hurt or burnt or something along that idea."

Ah. It was really a sad song. "You listen to love songs?"

"Aren't most songs just love songs? But really, I just picked this song because it would be probably something that you'd like."

"What do you care what I think?" I asked, "You did say you weren't trying to impress anyone. No need to impress me, Tsukishima."

I didn't give him time to give me a reply. I looked at my watch and said, "Let's go ahead, we might be late for the 2:00 show."

We got our tickets and I paid for the popcorn. Apparently, we both like popcorn with a lot of cheese on it. We found seats perfectly in the middle. He immediately took the middle armrest, but it was fine, I was used to taking the arm rest on my right. I placed the popcorn on my lap. Before the show started, I got the cardigan and wore it to keep me warm.

"We made in time for the trailers, apparently." He commented.

"You like watching those, too?" I whispered through the darkness, "It's my favourite thing about watching a movie in the cinema."

"Ah, your right. My brother never really seemed fond to watch them. He'd take this time to buy more food or go to the comfort room."

"Oh really?" I asked, realizing that I had forgotten about him. "Well, that sucks."

"Sure does."

We sat quietly while the movie started. We laughed (yes, Tsukishima laughed. It was genuinely possible for him to laugh not because of mockery but because of pure humor), we were nervous in the same times, we shared the same emotions with the rest of the crowd for those few hours in the darknesss.

When we got out, our hands were filled with cheese. We had to go and wash it before meeting again. I looked at myself in the mirror and noticed how happy I looked. Although my hair was a mess. Bed hair after watching a movie. The usual. But my make up was still on. I hadn't looked at my reflection the whole day after I left the house and I hadn't realized that I still looked good. I didn't look harassed or tired. I looked like I was having fun. Like I was on a real date. I quickly touched up on my make up and dabbed on more lipstick.

"That was good." I commented after I spotted him standing outside the comfort rooms. "I mean, the whole movie was amazing wasn't it?"

"Yeah. I thought it would be dumb to do a whole knew Jurassic park but that was definitely worth it."

'Well, was it worth it watching with me?" I asked him, eye to eye. It was meant to be a joke but he was stunned for a moment. I could tell. He didn't give a quick retort.

Although he did a little after, "don't get your head a little too big, might not match that tiny little dress your wearing."

'Whatever, Tsukishima. Why don't we just head home?"

He nodded and we walked back to the bust stop.

We got into the bus when I asked, "So, what happened with you and your love for volleyball? I mean, when we were kids you'd follow Aki-san around. You loved watching him play too much, you know. You hated me but I could tell when you loved something."

"It's nothing. Nothing happened. I mean, I am still playing it. What's different with then?"

"Shoyou said you don't really try so hard. Not even during practice. Like everyone does extra practice and well, you don't"

"Aren't we doing enough practice? Practice after practice is too much."

I had noticed I had stepped into a landmine. So I decided to change the topic, "How about we talk about something else? Books, perhaps? Or maybe more music? Maybe I should listen to more of your music, it sounded nice."

In the end, we did end up talking about music. We argued about what made pop music bad or good. We debated about good books or movies. I tried to get him to read a few mangas but he said that he didn't want to try reading anything that was too trivial. We debated more. We had a lot of topics where our ideas never met and we argued more but they were healthy arguments. We learned more about each other. We never talked about the past or his brother or my dad and I felt safe with that. We were off the bus and walking home but we were still talking.

Oddly enough, I was able to handle a conversation with this guy, how I did it, I didn't know. But I did. I felt like we could redo all that he'd done for those years when I was a child. We were mostly just arguing but I didn't mind. This was nice.

"Well, you two look lovely today." I heard a familiar voice in front of us.

Tsukishima and I were in a heated conversation on whether strawberries were yummier with cream or with chocolate. I was on the side of the chocolate and he was on the other side.

"Personally, I prefer chocolate, if my vote matters." The voice said.

"Aki-san." I said. My heart beat rose. I could feel my cheeks flush. Stupid asian skin. I get red too easily. This is annoying. I'll be too obvious.

"Nii-chan." Tsukishima said beside me.

"And you brought home such a lovely lady, Kei. You sure have turned out to be a beautiful lady, Kana-chan."

That was the breaking point. I was seriously turning red. I could see the skin on the visible parts of my shoulders flush, too. I probably look like someone who has had a huge allergic reaction to compliments.

"I'm home." His brother added a few moments after.

Tsukishima barged inside his home without even saying goodbye to me or saying welcome home to his brother. Aki-san looked sad and confused but he seemed to have gotten used to this treatment his brother has given him.

"Welcome home, Aki-san." I replied instead.

* * *

A/N: hello, its the long awaited date chapter and at the same time, haikyuu the anime has finally caught up to my favourite part of the whole series. The Tsukishima Arc, as I like to call it. I got in a twin chapter because chapter 4 was more like literally a prelude, as what the chapter title says. And this turned out too long because I just got too excited for this. This one is the true beginning of the story. Most of what you've been probably reading was a lot like the introduction to the characters. This is where we begin, or so I think. So I already have till chapter 12 planned out but I still don't know if I'd be able to make more chapters than that. But if I continue hearing more from you then nothing will stop me now.

Anyway, thank you to those who have continued to review and to the new readers, those who favorited and followed the story, Thank you thank you. You're support truly strengthens me.

Till Next time where I'm probably going to write a short chapter,

Lynx


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